An Old Man's Fancy

John Thomas McIntyre (26 November 1871 – 21 May 1951) was an American playwright, and mystery and crime fiction author. McIntyre worked as a freelance journalist in Philadelphia before writing his first novel The Ragged Edge (1902). He was also the writer of the plays Steve (1912) and A Young Man's Fancy (1919). McIntyre's success as a serious novelist were limited and short-lived, and he relied on writing short stories, detective mysteries and juvenile fiction to make a living. He invented the character Ashton-Kirk, a scientific-minded criminologist, and published several books featuring his cases. He also wrote serials for newspapers about a freelance detective named Jerry Mooney. McIntyre's biggest success came from his 1936 novel, Steps Going Down, which was the US entry in the All-Nations Prize Novel Competition and won a prize of $4,000.